Q. Evaluate the left hand side to find the value of a in the equation in simplest form.x51x2=xaAnswer:
Simplify using exponent property: To simplify the expression on the left-hand side, we use the property of exponents that states when dividing like bases, we subtract the exponents: xm/xn=x(m−n).So, (x2)/(x(1/5))=x(2−1/5).
Perform exponent subtraction: Now we need to perform the subtraction in the exponent: 2−51. To subtract these, we can write 2 as a fraction with a common denominator of 5: (510)−(51)=(59).
Final simplified expression: We have simplified the left-hand side to x59. Therefore, the value of 'a' in the equation x51x2=xa is 59.
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